Perseid Meteor Shower
The Perseid Meteor Shower is a prolific annual meteor shower caused when Earth passes through the debris stream left by Comet 109P/Swift‑Tuttle. Active from mid‑July to late August, it peaks around August 12–13, producing up to ~50–100 meteors per hour under dark skies—many bright and fast enough to leave colorful wakes.
Source: science.nasa.gov
APODs including "Perseid Meteor Shower"
Leonid Meteor Shower Next Week
08/11/1998
rly next week, a spectacular meteor storm is expected: the 1998 Leonids. It is widely thought that that the meteors from the Leonids meteor shower are just small pieces of Comet Temple-Tuttle falling to Earth. During each pass near the Sun, a comet will heat up and shed pieces of ice and rock from its nucleus. This debris continues to orbit the Sun until either evaporating or being swept up by some large solar-system body. A piece of comet debris striking the Moon creates a small crater, but a piece striking the Earth usually burns up in the atmosphere causing a brief, bright streak. The streak below center in the above picture of the northern sky actually depicts a meteor from the Perseid meteor shower, a usually impressive display that peaks every year in mid-August.